The single constant of public order policing is balancing the rights of people to stage protests with the right to public order and safety and security, says Dianne Kohler Barnard, the DA’s Shadow Minister of Police. This is especially important regarding the rising use of technology by protestors and the development of public order strategy and policy.

There is a major lack of qualified personnel and no training available for public order police in South Africa, says Brigadier (retd) ‘Happy’ Schutte, former operational head of the Crime Combating Units Gauteng. He was speaking at defenceWeb’s Public Order Policing conference today.

It is peoples’ democratic right to stage a public protest or demonstration. However, the constitution only allows for legal protests if they have been organised beforehand and approved by the relevant authorities. It is the duty of public order police units to police all peaceful and violent events.

The porous state of South Africa’s borders is harmful to farmers as they are subject to stock theft, crime and diseases, farmers' organisation AgriSA says. The recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in KwaZulu Natal is a direct result of damaged border fences that allowed infected cattle through to South Africa.

According to Kobus Breytenbach, AgriSA’s Rural Safety Committee deputy chair, the fence between Mozambique and South Africa has been vandalised, leading to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease that is affecting more than 600 head of cattle in northern KwaZulu-Natal. “South Africa is now in quarantine and cannot export any meat products to foreign countries,” he said.

Africa remains the single largest destination for United Nations peacekeepers and is host to the two largest missions currently deployed – MONUC in the DR Congo and UNAMID in Sudan's troubled Darfur. At least half the world's peacekeepers are currently deployed in Africa. But to what effect? Both MONUC and UNAMID have been in place for several years now – and indeed the UN has had a presence in the Congo for much of the time since its independence in 1960. Are these missions interminable? Are they just a “band aid on an open wound”?

Meanwhile, the strategic plane is changing. The 2010 edition of the Military Balance, the defence digest of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), notes the strategic importance of Africa to both the “West” and China is rising gradually. It's not just oil and other resources – piracy off Somalia has increased from a nuisance to something approaching a strategic challenge, while on land the country and neighbouring Yemen are becoming an increasingly popular destination for aspiring jihadists seeking training and action. The situation in Mogadishu is indeed giving African peacekeepers there a taste of what the United States has faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But all is not doom and gloom. The IISS noted as encouraging the growing maturity of he African Union Standby Force and greater cross-border cooperation between formerly hostile states to eradicate insurgency. Examples include combined operations between Uganda, DR Congo and the Central African Republic to tackle the Lord's Resistance Army.

defenceWeb's Peacekeeping Africa Conference will examine just how effective and secure peacekeeping operations in Africa really are. Featuring leading best practice and case studies on the latest developments in peacekeeping strategies for the African continent, this comprehensive two-day event promises to bring together the different bodies that are involved in peacekeeping. Subject-matter experts will discuss tactical and operational issues, protocol, policies and strategy as well as the role of non-governmental organisations and civilians in ensuring effective peacekeeping.

[19 March 2010, Johannesburg] - defenceWeb's border security conference has come and gone and by all accounts was a success. The event was well supported by industry as well as delegates and some top-notch speakers were heard.